Aiden's First Bath

After our visitors left the Saturday Aiden was born, we gave him his first bath. Big Sister and Big Brother were eager to help. Noah was horrified, though, when he saw the umbilical cord stump. "What happened?!" he wanted to know. We told them it was the umbilical cord where he was connected to mama, it was cut when he was born, it will dry up and fall off like a scab, etc. A few days later, we overheard Madeleine telling Grandma C that was Aiden's "electrical cord".

Cerneka, Party of Five?

On May 30, at 0300, we welcomed our third child and second son Aiden Joseph Cerneka. He came in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces and 20 inches long.

I started contracting irregularly at while working on Wednesday. They continued during the day Thursday. I saw my midwife for my 39 week check up and got enough groceries to survive the End Times. Shannon had a meeting that night, so I took the kids to eat and play at McDonald's, figuring the next few days would be a little chaotic and mommy-less for them.

During that night, they started coming every ten minutes and were painful enough to wake me up each time. By the morning, Friday the 29th, the were still very regular and pretty uncomfortable. We decided to go in to the birth center and get checked. We left the kids with Dad, Mom went into school and said good bye and hugged her 3rd graders, and we called Katy Korte. We got to the Birth Center about 8am, and Ivy checked me. I was only 3-4cm and 75% effaced. She suggested we go home and relax until the contractions were closer together. We went to out to breakfast and then headed home. Mom went home and she and Dad kept Madeleine and Noah for the day. Katy remained on standby. I did some light housework, we took a walk, I tried to nap a little bit and watched a marathon of What Not to Wear. Throughout the day, my contrations went from 10 minutes apart, to four an hour, to three an hour, to two an hour. By four pm, I was one ticked off mama. I was all geared up to do this thing, and my body was not cooperating!

As the afternoon wore on into the evening, things started picking up again. By 10:00, I could could no longer walk or talk through the contractions. I was having to lean or kneel into the couch and have Shannon rub the small of my back. I was thinking about the big tub of warm water waiting for me the entire trip. We made the phone calls again and left for Columbia. When we got there, Ivy checked me again and I was 6-7 cm. I was more than ready to hop in the tub, but my blood pressure was up, so Ivy had me rest in bed for a bit. Mom and Katy got there, and after about an hour, I was able to get into the tub. It made an immediate difference in the level of discomfort. My back pain was gone immediately, and it easily cut the pain of the contractions in half. I soaked, floated, and contracted there for a couple hours, eating a bit of Mom's potato soup and visiting in between contractions. Ivy came in at about 1am and said, "You look too comfortable in there. You need to get out and walk a bit." I was indeed relatively comfortable in there, and was not the least bit interested in getting out and walking. I decided that I was just going to stay put until she came back and absolutely made me get out. 15-20 minutes later, I had to go to the bathroom, so I got out anyway, put a robe on and started making a circuit around the Birth Center.

I walked for about an hour, with Shannon next to me, waving and complaining at Mom and Katy every time we made a lap past my room. It got to the point where I could not take two steps without contracting. After a pit stop in the bathroom that lasted about 20 minutes because I started puking, likely due to transition, Ivy let me get back in the tub. Another 20 minutes later, I felt an overwhelming urge to push with my contractions. Ivy checked me, and said she was going to call the doctor, and as soon as she got there, I could push!

It seemed like forever (though it was probably about five minutes) later, I heard Dr. Alleman's voice. I started pushing. After about 10-15 minutes of pushing, the baby was born at exactly 3am. Ivy pulled him up out of the water and placed him on my chest and covered both of us with a warmed towel. I was so relieved that I was done that I totally forgot to ask if it was a boy or girl, until someone in the room asked, "What is it?". As Shannon announced, "It's a boy", I realized that I did indeed have a handful of boy parts in my right hand as I held him against my chest. We had an Aiden!

Brand new!


Ivy weighs and measure him.

Ready to go home! He is wearing the same Cardinal sleeper his sister and brother came home in.

We rested there at the Birth Center for a few hours. They made sure Aiden had nursed, that I had eaten something and used the bathroom, and we were both stable before everyone went home, at about 5am. We slept there a bit before packing up and bringing Aiden home. We got home about 11am and had a few hours to hang out with Aiden. Mom and Dad brought the kids and dinner over later. Evidently, Madeleine, who just knew she was going to have a sister, was sorely disapointed for about five minutes, crying and throwing a mini-fit. But as soon as she saw her baby brother in person, she was totally enchanted. Noah, too. He kept saying, "I love my baby brother!" and they both fought over who was going to hold him.

Spending some quiet time together at home.

Madeleine and Noah meet Aiden. They were smitten from the start, and could not stop giggling at him.

We loved our experience with the Columbia Family Birth Center and the midwifery model of maternal-child care. I felt very well cared for and respected. It is a very warm and family-friendly place to bring a new baby into the world. There were several reasons we chose an out-of-hospital birth. I don't want to get all soap boxy here, but I am more than happy to discuss our decision and our experience with anybody who has questions. I will say that if you are looking to birth under your own power in a totally supportive environment, the Columbia Family Birth Center is the place for you.

We are a very happy family of five now. We are having a wonderful summer and have already had several adventures together. Aiden is 8 weeks old tomorrow, and is now 10 pounds 7 ounces and 23 inches long. More stories and pictures to come!

Squishy baby kiss!

(Please ignore my crooked pictures on the wall behind us.)

Anniversary Weekend Part 2 - Swimming, Magic House, and Ted Drewes

After the game, we relaxed at the hotel and let the kids cool of in the pool. I enjoying the huge hot tub - it was just the thing for my feet and back after all that walking and standing. Madeleine would not get in the pool, but she loved splashing around in the hot tub with me. Shannon managed to get Noah into the big pool, then he taught him to jump from the side into his arms. Noah loved it and they played like that for the better part of an hour.

The next day, we visited the Magic House. There was a traveling exhibit on fairy tales. That was our first stop and we had a hard time getting Madeleine to leave it. They feature fairy/folk tales from around the world, including some dress up items. Madeleine put on a flowy, full skirted white princess dress and a red chinese robe over it and wore it all over the exhibit.

Going to her Asian fusion ball in Cinderella's coach.

They have a massive water play feature, and this was Noah's favorite part.


Reading the news in the tv studio. We also had a hard time getting Madeleine away from this one.



Shannon and Noah were playing down stairs, and Madeleine and I were upstairs in the play restaurant, and I just happened to look out the window and caught Noah climbing up on the (play) ice cream cart to have a look.

Part of the expansion includes an exhibit on the three branches of federal government. This is a mock up of the Oval Office, and we took turns pretending to the Madam or Mr. President.





After the Magic House, we were ready to head home, but we decided to treat the kids to Ted Drewes first. We put the back of the van up and rearranged our stuff in order to sit back there to eat our custard. It was fun, until Noah dropped his face down on the parking lot. Two minutes later, Madeleine dropped hers, too, and we were done.
It looks like two giant birds had been perched on our van, doesn't it?

Anniversary Weekend Part 1 - Cards Game

Our 6th anniversay was May 24th. To celebrate, we took the kids to St. Louis for a weekend trip to the STL that Saturday and Sunday. We started with an afternoon ball game at Busch Stadium. Our hotel was out at the airport, so we parked there and rode the MetroLink into downtown, which was a good idea until after the game. It turns out we didn't save any money or time do it this way. However, the kids loved the train, and Noah talked about the ride as much as the game. It was Noah's first visit to Busch Stadium. It was a good time, even with the heat and all the walking. Those of you paying close attention will note that this was exactly a week before Aiden joined us, which is why you see no pictures of me in this post. One does not take or post pictures of themselves hot, sweaty, and 39 weeks pregnant. It was fun, though, and we enjoyed spending time together as a family of four one last time.

Waiting for the train.

Our seats were high up, and in the sun for the entire game, but we had a great view on the 3rd base line and sat with some fun (and thankfully understanding and patient) fans.


Sno cones are an easy way to keep a two year old hydrated on a hot day.

There is a Family Pavilion out behind center/right field with a small play area. We spent a couple innings there to let the kids run around and to get out of the sun.

More treats! Dippin dots are a favorite. I should explain the lack of spirit wear on the girl. We don't have anything that fits her anymore, so we went shopping before we left. She, naturally, wanted a pink Cardinals shirt. We couldn't find one in her size around here, so we told her we'd get one for her at the stadium. You'd think they'd have at least one pink Cards shirt in a 4 year old's size, and they did, but they were ugly or dumb. She was happy in her Cinderella shirt, although it was blue and we were playing the Royals.

We did a lot of walking, and that can be hard on little legs. Noah spent a lot of time up on Shannon's shoulders.

There were batting cages in the Family Pavilion for big and little kids. This is Madeleine's second cage. She left the first one because she wanted to wear the pink helmet in this one. The balls were on tethers and easy for them to whack.

After the game, we got in line to take the MetroLink back to the airport, and waited for 30 minutes to squeeeze on a west bound train. I did my best impression of a hot, tired woman in her ninth month of pregnancy to no avail. I stood until the next to last stop, about 30 minutes, when a couple seats opened up and someone finally offered them to me and the kids. They didn't mind, they loved the ride back as much as the ride in. We got to our hotel, had a cocktail and a swim, and everyone slept extremely well that night.

Madeleine's Recital

On Sunday, we celebrated Madeleine's first year of dance with her recital. It was fabulous - exactly what you thought a small-town dance studio's recital would be. Madeleine's class is the 4-5 year olds, and their ballet and tap routines were also exactly what you thought they would be. Madeleine did very well, considering she's the youngest in the class and sometimes has trouble focusing. She spent a lot of her dances watching the other girls, and did okay with the steps, and got lots of direction when it was time to move from the girls on either side of her. Gramma and Granpa, Kelly, Grandma C, Aunt Laura with Nathan and Kaitlyn all came. Shannon was able to get home in plenty of time from Oklahoma City, in spite of a canceled flight, thanks to a generous priest who drove him the 8 hours home. Afterwards, we went to Bonkers to spend time with Shannon's family and celebrate.

Getting ready!






Watching the big girls practice their tap routine at the dress rehearsal. I took all my pictures during the rehearsal so I could get closer without disturbing the other families.

Madeleine, second from the left, sitting with the rest of her class.

The ballet routine was called "An American Wedding". I don't know why - the music wasn't especially wedding-ish, except for a few bars of the wedding march from Midsummer Night's Dream, but it was cute, short, and simple. Madeleine is third from the right.

The tap routine was to "This Land is Your Land". She did better with the steps with this routine, but had issues remembering where she needed to be when. The other girls were very helpful and kind of pushed her around the stage until she got where she needed to be. She's second from the right in this photo.

Again, second from the right, but in front now.

A rare synchronized moment in the routine.

This land is made for you and me! As a side note, the day after her recital, she was fighting with Noah over a cardboard diaper box they had been playing in, and she pushed him out, saying "This land was NOT made for you and me, Noah!".

Final pose!


The actual curtain call. Madeleine is fourth from the left, I think. The Senior Dance Corps members are mostly teachers and demonstrators, and they were the ones to herd the dancers around and get them on and off stage, which was nice, then a parent didn't have to do it.

The gave all the dancers medals with the logo for the recital on it. Madeleine thought she had won an Olympic Gold Medal!!! She kind of looks like an ice skater in these pictures, with the costume, the flowers, and the medal.

At Bonkers with Nathan.

The day after, she dressed her brother in both costumes. Here they are, taking their own private curtain call. I'm going to be in big trouble in about 10 years for taking these pictures.

A close up of Madeleine's recital roses. I was playing with the macro setting on my new camera.

Hockaday Park

Earlier this month, we packed a lunch and headed into town for some park time. We usually go to the "plastic park" in front of Bush School, but this day we decided to go to Hockaday Park. Some of you will remember the old "Cowboys and Indians" theme the playground had - the concrete fort, the metal teepee and stage coach. I don't know when that stuff was removed, probably years and years ago, but it has been replaced by much more PC and liability-reduced playground, featuring ADA accessible equipment, rubber matting, and a small rock climbing wall.

Dance class open house

This week was spring open house week for Madeleine's dance studio. The parents were invited into the last 30min of class and the girls did their tap and ballet routines for us. My squirrelly girly Madeleine did fairly well - having myself and the other parents there was very distracting for her. She's also the youngest in the class, the other girls are older and have all taken dance before. All things considered, she knew the routine, even if she didn't always turn the right way! They also handed out the recital costumes on Wednesday, which was terribly exciting for all the girls. The recital is May 3rd at 2pm at Champ Auditorium in Fulton.

The ballet routine is called "An American Wedding", and the girls are all little brides. You should see the costume - it comes with a veil and everything and is Madeleine-tastic.

The tap routine is set to Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land". It's actually a pretty cute routine, as is the ballet. Very simple and seems appropriate for 4/5 year olds. The costume is a sweet little red tap dress - it's adorable and Madeleine looks beautiful in it.

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Tub Time

The kids play mostly very well together in the bath tub. There's usually a couple fights over the faucet, a toy or two, and who splashed who, but for the most part they do well and enjoy playing together. They love bubbles, and think its especially funny to give themselves bubble beards.

Slainte mhath!

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day early with Mom and Dad, as they were in St. Petersburg on spring break on the 17th (I know, boo hoo!). We had Irish beer, corned beef sandwiches, traditional and American traditional soda bread, and lots more good food. Mom and Dad hired a local musician/entertainer to come and sing and play for us. He played the guitar, banjo, mandolin, and Irish drum, and knew lots of songs and stories. He was also very good and patient with the kids, which is a plus, since Madeleine was all up in his business the entire evening.

Madeleine and Noah model the tee-shirts I made for them.

Playing along with the singer. (I can't remember his name, but he was cool)

Madeleine "helping" Brooke Czeschin to dance.

Brooke checks out the guitar.

Happy 2nd Birthday Maia!

Happy Birthday to our fair haired, moose-loving, princess of the extreme northwest!

Newly born in 2007.

Nearly two in 2008!

Happy belated birthday to our niece Maia, who turned two in January. We had a small birthday party for her in December before the Pucketts left for California, and it sounds like the party continued at Disneyland for Maia!

Christmas night, dressed in new princess finery.

Rockin' with Noah at her party. We were also watching a Mizzou game, that's why everyone's in their Tiger gear.

Reading Cookie Monster with some Cinderella specs, dressed as a HSM cheerleader.

Cerneka Family Christmas

Pictures from the Cerneka Christmas in Belleville, mid-December or so! It was extra-special as it was Kaitlyn's first Christmas!

Christmas Day

We spent Christmas night and day at Mom and Dad's with the rest of Clan Ramsay. It was awesome to all be together for the holiday. These are pictures from Christmas day and evening, including some Guitar Hero, some Christmas crackers and paper hats, and a little Elefun the Elephant.

Christmas Morning

Here are finally some pictures from Christmas! These are from Christmas eve night and Christmas morning at Mom and Dad's.

Trying to get the kids to relax and get sleepy. It didn't work, but it made for a cute picture.

The kids on Christmas morning, before presents. The crappy photo is a thing of the past, by the way, thanks to my fabulous new camera. I will be debuting pictures from my new camera soon!

This picture doesn't even do the madness justice.

Madeleine's Santa present - a Cherry Blossom Market, and Noah's - a Thomas pop-up tent that was massively bigger than I thought it would be. It took up a quarter of the room.

Stockings!

Helping Noah open his present from the Pucketts - his own apron with his name on it and a kids cookbook.

Playing with and reading various Christmas presents.

Preschool Christmas Party

Our preschool's Christmas party is always a fun, low-key event. People bring food, a wrapped ornament for each kid (for Santa to hand out) and we visit and eat while the kids play with play doh and make little craft projects. Santa makes an appearance, the kids wander over to visit with him, and it's all very comfortable and low-key.

Noah and the Man. Noah was actually the first kid to get up on his lap, which is unusual for him. He's not shy, buy he usually checks things out before jumping in like that.

Madeleine and the Man.

Madeleine helps Miss Sherri open her Christmas present.

Noah at the play-doh, of course.

Miss Sherri reads a Jan Brett book to Madeleine and fellow 4 year old Grace.

November and December catch-up

So here are some pictures from the some odds and ends that happened in November and December.

NCCYM in Cleveland, Ohio. This is Shannon and Orin performing at the Advent concert put on by GIA and World Library.

The comedy club performance on Saturday night of the conference. The opening number required tacky Christmas sweaters, and after looking around on eBay and at Goodwill, I thought, I can do way better than that. So, we dug out the picture of Homer in the Santa hat from two years ago, blew it up and turned it into an iron-on transfer, added some green and red pompoms and jingle bells and voila! - our very own tacky sweater! The best part was the back, which said, "Meow-y Christmas". Orin wore a sweater vest he found at Cracker Barrel sans shirt. You will thank me for not posting a photo of that.

Orin, Erin, and the kids at the Shrine when Oddwalk played for the Way of Lights.

Shannon and Madeleine getting down with their bad selves at the WoL.

Madeleine and Granpa after her Christmas dance show.

We got to watch Maia for a few hours while her parents indulged in their gambling vice in Booneville during the Christmas holiday week. The first thing she did was put that cheerleading dress and sunglasses on. She wore the dress all night.

"Super Noah, to the resuce!"

Just hanging out, in too-small footie pajamas, wearing a hat, like you do.

The girl is sound asleep. I mean totally, absolutely, dead to the world, asleep. I was a nice mommy and fixed her, after calling her father in to see and taking this picture.

Happy 3rd Birthday Nathan!

In early November, our nephew Nathan Young turned 3! Here are some pictures from his birthday party in Belleville.

Birthday boy Nathan.

Madeleine gives the pinata a tug. Or as she calls it, a "pie-ya-tah".

Niece Kaitlyn, 8 months.

Noah and a giant cookie.

Granda C's grandkids: Noah, Madeleine, Nathan and Kaitlyn.

Wentzville Holt Indian Band!

Early last Novemeber, Chris called us on a Saturday and asked if we were interested in coming to watch Maggie's band compete at the Mizzou Band Day. We got there just in time to meet Chris and watch her band perform. After the performance, we found Maggie with her buses in the Hearnes parking lot for a short visit. Madeleine loved the guard, and the many different flags they used. For a while after, she played color guard with whatever she could find, usually my broom. Noah enjoyed having the run of the bleachers at Memorial Stadium.

Happy Halloween!

This Halloween, Madeleine was fixated on the Wizard of Oz and wanted to be Dorothy, until she laid eyes on this Glenda costume we found at KMart. Ooo...pink and silver and puffy and a crown! Dorothy who? We couldn't find a fireman costume for Noah that wasn't comically or dangerously too big for him, so we put him in Madeleine's jersey and found him a hat and glove and he went as a St. Louis Cardinal. We trick or treated on our street, visited the Neudeckers in town (I need to find those pictures), and then headed out to Holts Summit to trick or treat at Gramma and Granpa's. This holiday is made for Madeleine, as we discovered last year. Dress-up, people, candy, oh man. This year, we had to keep her from walking in to our neighbor's homes and just helping herself to the candy. Noah did well, and I think was more interested in keeping up with his sister at first, then he figured out there was candy to be had. Every kid loves candy, but he's a freak about it. I think he learned the word "candy" about the same time he learned "milk".

Our final stop - Gramma and Granpa's/

Family pictures up!

We got family pictures taken about three weeks ago and they've just been posted on the photographer's website. If you are interested, go to Two Views Photography, click on "client viewing" after you enter the site. The password is ECerneka. There are some decent proofs of us as a family, but there are a couple outstanding pictures of the kids, especially Noah.

The last of the summer catch-up (I think)

Thank you, friends and family, for being so patient with me and this blog. I'm hoping that I won't have another lapse like this one. I'm feeling much better - more energy, less nausea. I have some fun Halloween and fall pictures to post - stay tuned!

We are practicing with big boy underpants. Thomas the Train, of course. The hat was his idea.

Noah used Madeleine's back as a canvas for green marker.

Too stinking cute. I can't believe these are actually my children.

St. Peter parish picnic.

Shrine playground.

Ask me sometime about Madeleine's creative problem solving in regards to a toilet and the playground during this trip.

Thanks to his brother in law Ryan, we got bleacher seat tickets to a Cards-Cubs game in August. We sat behind some Japanese young people with this homemade sign. I made Shannon ask what it meant. Evidently, it's "Fukudome".

A late night at Steak and Shake in BVille.

A little weenie roast in our backyard.

I'll say it again: this did not come from me.

"Heddo?" Working at the pizza restaurant at the Magic House.

The Shrine's new splash fountain. It's pretty cool and the kids love it. I just want to know who the genious was that thought it would be a)fun and b) safe to have two life-sized BRONZE statues of creepy-looking kids in an area where children are running and wet. For god's sake, the little girl statue has sharp pointy hair!

Fulton park.

Hanging out, drinking milk.

Noah loves to brush his teeth. And by "brush his teeth", I mean, eat the toothpaste.

"Mommy, I'm doing a science!"

Six Flags

We took some of Shannon's teens to Six Flags St. Louis in August. It must have been the hottest day of the entire summer, but we literally threw the kids into the splash fountain and force fed them water all day, and we actually had a pretty good time. Six Flags St. Louis, by the way, has the world's crappiest afternoon parade. Just so you know.

Noah: A photographic study of a ticked-off toddler

August 2008

Happy Birthday Princess!

Here are pictures from Madeleine's birthday and birthday party last month.

Madeleine woke up to donuts and a special surprise the morning of her birthday. The purse had ring pops in it and a Disney princess balloon on top.

Her birthday was on a Thursday, a preschool day. I parent-helped and brought snack, which were supposed to be peanut butter muffins with a little bit of chocolate and mini M&M's on top, but they turned out a LOT more like cupcakes. At least I tried. (Our preschool encourages healthy snacks, even on birthdays).

Madeleine and Miss Sherri play with the ramps.

Daddy came and played Chickenwire Joe and Matilda for the kids during songtime.

Doodley-doo!

Gramma and Granpa got her a new, beautiful big girl bed and bedding set. She loved it!



Her birthday party was on the Sunday following her birthday. We had our first real birthday party with little friend, and it was a lot of fun. We had a tea party and invited her preschool girlfriends (no boys, Mommmy!). Four little girls came, dresed very fancy, and we had a blast! I made the cupcakes and topped them with a miniature tea set.




We had fancy sandwiches, cheese and crackers, fruit, chocolate covered strawberries, and of course, cupcakes!

We made necklaces and bracelets out of sparkly pony beads and ribbon, and foam frames and doorhangers with foam stickers while we listened to princess music, Disney, naturally.

Four candles for my four year old girl!

Madeleine turns four!

On October 16, Madeleine turned four years old! She's growing up and maturing so fast, I can't hardly keep up. She loves dressing up, preschool, dance class, Princesses, McDonald's, making friends, and doing girly things with Mommy like shopping and nails. She loves reading and being read to. She is bold, curious, and friendly, and not a bit shy about asking that young woman in Wal Mart last night what that thing was in her face (a lip ring) and why (because she wanted to). She wakes up talking ("Mommy, what's your favorite color? How do you spell cake? What are we going to do today?") and she falls asleep talking ("Daddy, what's your favorite color? How do you spell castle? What are we going to do in the morning?") and barely stops to draw breath in between. She knows who John McCain, Barack Obama, Keith Olbermann, Jon Stewart, Rachel Madow, and Steven Colbert are. She hates having her hair brushed and when Noah gets all up in her business. I'm sure I've said this before, but we are so blessed to be her family. She is our delight. Happy birthday, girly-whirly!

2004

2005


2006

2007

Here are birthday pictures from the last four years!

Cheese!

Another camera phone pic. This was the day after we had our family pictures taken, and Madeleine was all about playing photographer. She lined up the chairs in front of the refridgerator, and had Noah and me sit while she took pictures with my phone. Or tried to. She didn't understand the delay, and moved the camera too soon, and they all came out blurry. Then I told her it was her turn, and she and the boy happily posed for this picture. I can't tell you why Noah is dressed and Madeleine isn't. I can tell you that he is dressed in the overalls to limit his access to his diaper, which he promptly removes whenever he poops in it. I understand this is a good thing, a sign of potty training readiness, but it's not a good thing when he untapes it and flings it between his legs, thereby sending nuggets zinging around the room. My house is messy enough as it is.

Hence, the overalls.

...and we're back.

Okay, so I know it's been a while and a lot has happened since I was last able to post. Madeleine turned 4, there's been a bunch of extended family birthdays, we found out about Cerneka Numero Tres, lots of events and fun things to write about. Sorry. It's mostly Cerneka Numero Tres' fault. Early pregnancy kicks my butt (like a lot of other women), and it's been all I could do to keep up with the carnival of birthday parties, halloween costumes, work, etc. I should be able to get some more stuff up soon. In the meantime, I'm going to post some fun but grainy pictures from our cell phone cameras. Like the one above. Madeleine watched Fetch! on PBS and they talked about the Macy's parade and it's floats, and she wanted to make her own. So, Shannon got out the wagon, and evidently gave her a roll of tape, and she went to work making her float. This particular gem features her mermaid Barbie firmly secured to the back of one seat, and the case for her DVD, "Barbie and the Nutcracker" (I think...it may be "Barbie of Swan Lake"...either way, it's Barbie does Tchaicovsky) stuck to the other. Not too shabby for her first entry in the Tournament of Cernekas Parade. I will give it the President's Award for Best Use of No Natural Materials, and the Queen's Award for Best Use of Yards and Yards of Painter's Tape.

Birthday Festivities in the STL

On Sunday, August 31, we met up with some friends and family at the St. Louis Zoo to hang out and celebrate the boy's birthday. As we were planning it, we weren't thinking about it being Labor Day Weekend, and the zoo being crowded, but it so was. Parking nearly impossible, but several friends and family members who managed it and the heat (the only 90 degree day I think we had in August this year!) to come and play with us.
We started the day with birthday cake for breakfast. I had a vision for his cake, and it would have cost $40 for the local bakery to do it. So, I bought Nemo and Dory water squirters and forged ahead. Sadly, though, it was not to be. One does not become a cake decorator with a piping bag and a geek-like knowledge of "Ace of Cakes". So I got a real bakery cake at the last minute and we ate this one for breakfast.
We even lit candles and sang. Noah for some reason, felt he had to sing "Happy birthday to you! Candles!" and then blow the candles out.
We watched this very determined giraffe for five or more minutes try and get this leaf off this branch. Eventually, as you can see, he reached it, and everyone cheered.

Craig Willmann, our godson, moments before he flipped over the fence rail and onto is back on the grass.
Craig and Noah enjoying a zoo snack of animal crackers and juice pouches (which, I have discovered, do not squirt as badly as juice boxes.)
After the zoo, the party moved to Orin and Erin's house a few blocks from the zoo. Erin and I left the zoo early to decorate and set up. I found a couple fun little inflatable games for the kids to play, including this ring toss, at the party store.
Erin got out her "Ravinia" table and we put the kids's camping chairs at it for their very own spot. It was just a coincidence that the tablecloth matched the chairs perfectly.
The backyard party space. Grandma C's in the foreground.


Noah playing with the fishy decorations.
Craig sneaking the girls some snacks. Gracie's on the left, Penny's on the right.
I guess everyone was sneaking snacks to the dogs!
The thing with Noah and cups is, he can totally drink from one, as evidenced by above. The stinker just likes to put stuff in it as well, like food and wipes and toys. He also loves to watch it pour out all over the table and floor. So, he still mostly gets to drink from sippy cups.

Waiting for cake.
The second cake. I ran into town and to our favorite bakery late on Friday, hoping they would still be open. They weren't, but she had just finished with a wedding appointment, and let me in anyway. I told her I only need a cake piped with "Happy Birthday Noah" and the water squirters put on top. Luckily, they had a blank quarter-sheet cake that she could use. She took it to the back, and a few minutes later, she popped out and said "Can I do something like this?" and she had a picture of a Nemo cake that was airbrushed blue, with seaweed and bubbles piped on it. I told her oh my gosh, yes! Whatever she could do would be great. Ten minutes later, she brings out this fun and yummy cake.
He managed to get one candle out, and cousin Nathan helped with the other.

Presents! He had lots of helpers. A keytar from Orin and Erin. He loves it, and wore it all the next day at home.

Both the kids adore those singing cards, and I found one that sings, "Celebration". Disco always seems to go over well with the two year olds!

Thanks to everyone who braved the heat and the crowds! We hope everyone had a good time at the zoo and at the party.

Firsts

Last week, was Madeleine's first day of preschool for the fall term and the first dance class ever. She started at Millersburg Preschool last fall after she turned three and we could not be happier with the teacher, the school, and the MPS community. Miss Sherri is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of teacher and we are so blessed to have her.

After looking at several other studios, including some in Jeff and Columbia, I decided to enroll her in Janet's Dance Studio in Fulton. There are other, bigger, and more competition-focused studios, but for a three-year-old just starting out, Janet's is just fine. We have to go to Jeff and Columbia often enough, it's nice to have something ten minutes away. My sister and I danced for Janet's studio for a couple of years when we were little, so it's cool to have that connection, too. She's in the 4-5 year old class, but I wasn't a bit worried about her hanging with older girls. She'll be 4 soon anyway, and she's friendly and assertive enough for it not to bother her. She walked right in and sat down smack in the middle of the dance floor. There were small pieces of tape for the girls to sit on in rows, but as this was our first time, Madeleine didn't know the rules. She sat in the middle for a couple seconds, then scooted over to be right next to another little girl who was sitting in the front row by herself. The instructors are two teenage girls with few social skills - we'll see how this works out - but they do seem to connect well enough with the little girl. After they got Madeleine on her own piece of tape, Noah and I were pretty well forgotten. I told her good bye, I'm not sure if she heard me or really cared. I heard her talking the entire time as I hung out behind the curtain in the waiting area for a few minutes and then left. I figured they'd spend the first class getting to know the rules, the instructors, the other girls, stretching, etc, but when I got back, there was music playing and they were working on some tap steps already! The studio doesn't require dance wear or shoes until October, to make sure the families don't make a huge investment and then it turns out the kids don't like it. Several of the other girls had tap and ballet shoes from last year and were using them already. She came out looking happy, and asking if I had her dance shoes, so I think it was a good experience. Madeleine talks a lot, but it takes her a few hours or days to process things, so she wasn't ready to talk too much about the class at first, but since then, we've heard quite a bit. The instructors taught the girls a little cheer to say at the end of class: "We're smart, we strong, and we love to dance!".

First day of MPS. I french braided her hair! (She wanted "Dorothy" hair) And, they stayed in all day!

Noah had to get in the picture, too.

In her dance gear with McDuff, who is visiting us from preschool for the weekend.

Of course, her hair had to be in a bun, and she had to wear pink tights.

And the Trogdor comes in the niiiiiiiiiight!

My Two Year Old Rock Star!

Here are some pictures from Noah's birthday, August 29. We spent the day getting ready for the zoo and the party on the 31st, and in the evening, we went to Bonkers and to Chevy's for dinner with Kelly. (The indoor pictures are not as good as the outdoor pictures because my camera sucks.)

Gramma and Granpa Ramsay gave him this totally rad fire truck. Noah loved it!

You can imagine why she was sitting by herself in the back.

Fum in the human habitrail.

I think this arcade game is a little too self-aware.

It was reading "Get Help" before Noah started hitting it, I swear.

Noah sculpts a piece of art out of his tortilla dough and crayons. He's advanced.

"Camp Wok!" Man, I hope that the Jonas Brother and the girl get together in the end!
Okay, so our waiter was so totally over working at Chevy's and was the most disinterested server I think I've ever had. The reason we went there in the first place is that we wanted Noah to get the happy-clappy song and the sombrero. We like the food, too, so everybody wins. I won a nice big Midori margarita, but that's beside the point. So we mentioned that Noah was a birthday boy, and he totally blew us off. After the meal, he brought the kids the little dish of ice cream that comes with every kid's meal, and we were opening the little gift we brought for Noah. Dude looks at me and says, "Oh, did you want us to sing to him?" I said yes, please, and then he asked when would be a good time. The meal is over, moron, our kids are jumping in their seats and throwing food like monkeys, how about now? But I said anytime that's good for them, and he's like, how about now? Thanks, guy. Appreciate it. I'm sure they must get tired of "Uno, dos, uno, dos, tres, quatros..happy happy birthday, blah blah blah blah blah..." and the hand clapping and the hat, but, he's two. After several minutes, they did finally come over clapping. Noah got his hat and big sundae - he was much more interested in the sundae.

I have a hard time believing my boy is two already. He's still sweet and pretty chill, but he's very much a two year old. He is especially focused these days on doing things himself, to the point of temper tantrums if he can't get it, or most especially, if we try to help. He likes things with wheels, and discovered all on his own that he can push his cars across the floor and make a "vroom" sound. His hands-down favorite food is candy, and can spot a piece at 50 paces. Next to candy, he loves broccolli and ice cream, and of course, nay nay nay. He thinks he knows how to get out of trouble - by saying "hug!" and putting his head on your shoulder. He's a wee bit sensitive and could learn to push back every once in a while. He's likes to use the potty, but it's still just an interesting thing to do, not a necessity, yet. His most favorite things to play with are guitars and keytars/keyboards - can't imagine where that comes from. He loves guitars and rocking out so much, that anything long and narrow-type shaped can become one. (I'll post a video of him rocking a green plastic bat.) He's friendly and outgoing and extremely curious about everything. His vocabulary is amazing, and he loves to parrot new words and phrases, but my favorite is when I tell him I love him, he says, "I yove, too".

Happy Birthday Noah-Boy!

On Friday, our Noah turned two officially, although he's been behaving like a two year old for a couple months now. I will get pictures up sometime this week, but Shannon and Orin have a couple things over at the Oddblog. Thanks again to everyone to helped celebrate our boy's birthday. I hope everyone had a good time. Thanks especially to the Hammond-Johnson family for allowing their home to be Party Central yesterday!

This isn't Nam, Smokey, there are rules.

So, a few weeks ago, we decided to take the kids bowling and see how they did. We went on a slow weekday afternoon, as the bowling alley was getting ready for league bowl that evening. This is our new bowling center in Fulton, and it is very nice and shiny and new, and not icky and smokey like the old one was. They have automatic bumpers that go up in the gutters when it was the kids' turn, which was pretty cool. They had kid-weight balls and even tiny shoes for them, and they really liked rolling the ball and watching the pins fall. Being the ages they are, they had some issues with understanding turn-taking, and they were severely distracted by the arcade games and toy machine-game thing in the corner. Noah especially liked the deer hunting game with the rifle-shaped controller. Being our child, though, he thought it was a guitar and pretended to play it as such. The highlight of the afternoon came when I, being the brilliant problem-solver that doesn't want to bother anybody that I am, attempted to rescue Madeleine's ball that lost momentum and stopped a third of the way to the pins. I took one step on the freshly waxed and buffed lane next to ours and immediately fell on my tookis. I mean, instantly, no time to regain my balance and not look a fool. I got up, sensibly walked in the gutter, gave her ball a push, and walked back. Soon after, we started to loose the kids. They really wanted to play those games in the corner. We finished an entire game, but after that, we decided to pack it in. It was an interesting experiment, but I think we'll wait another year or so before taking them back.

Madeleine the Bride

Ever since Kim and Josh Pierce's wedding, Madeleine has been obesessing over being a bride and getting married. At least 5 times a week, we marry her off to a stuffed toy, her brother, or her father. She loves putting on her ballerina dress, some sort of scarfy/veil thing, and grabbing whoever's handy to get married. She march up to me and ask, "Say the words, Mommy!" and if I leave out "Dearly beloved", she gets quite annoyed and makes me go back and start over. This particular day, she wanted the scarf on her head and I showed her a trick I came up with when I was a little girl dressing up and playing bride - covering her face and head with the scarf, putting a headband on top, and flipping the scarf back over her head like a blusher. She loved it! The flowers came from Debbie Gross, who gave them to Madeleine to play with. Sadly, the flowers are no longer with us, having been played with mercilessly by both the girl and Noah.

Littlestar Diapercakes at Southbank

Southbank, a cutesy little gift shop in Jefferson City, has agreed to sell my diapercakes on consignment! Southbank is in the downtown shopping district and has all sorts of frames, glassware, gourmet food, home accessories, and other fun and interesting things. I have decided to no longer offer them at craft fairs, as it has not been worth the time or effort or money involved. I am still hoping to get a retail website up sometime this year, but until then, I still have a few samples on the Littlestar blog and will always take special orders via email.

Left is my Go Cards! cake, complete with Cardinals onesie and baseball glove teether.

I've Got Video!

Hooray!

This is a short video of the kids dancing at the Shrine's World Youth Day event last month.

Ivy Green

On our way home from Gulf Shores, we detoured through northern Alabama to visit Helen Keller's birthplace, Ivy Green.

The home was the center of a plantation, and is now in the center of town. It seems small on the outside, but was quite large once you got inside. Many original items and artifacts from Helen Keller's life remain intact in the home.

Madeleine in the garden next to a statue of a little girl reading a Braille book.
The water pump where Helen first discovered how to communicate with other people. She was seven years old when this happened. By the end of that day, she had learned 60 words.


There were a couple pieces of machinery in the back yard - a grindstone and some sort of grinding implement. They were semi functioning, and the kids got a kick out of turning the cranks.

A Royal Banquet!

For our dinner night at Gulf Shores, we created a Royal Banquet, complete with sparkly goblets and paper crowns.

Noah can feed himself, but I guess Madeleine thought he needed help.

Madeleine snapped this picture of me and the beach.

Madeleine is very affectionate, but she needs to learn to be gentle. She can get a little too forceful and/or exuberant with her hugs and kisses.

Our after dinner entertainment.

A self portrait.The royal chef.
Our splendid glasses, adorned with the finest gemstones WalMart's craft section had to offer for $1.99.


The King.

More Gulf Shores

I am finally able to get some more pictures up from our vacation!

Noah tickling an uncle's foot, not sure if it's Apple Crisp or Apple Putt (Uncle Chris or Uncle Puck, in Noah-ese)

A modest sand castle. The kids loved the sand. Hated the water, but loved the sand.

Chris and Maggie's Mexican Night. I thought the Uncle Sam hat pinata was kinda funny.

Cousins!

Noah's all tricked out with pirate booty.

Madeleine taking a swing at the Uncle Sam hat pinata.
Maggie and myself with some interesting dental features.
Meeting for drinks after date night.

Toddlers in a boat. They took the kids to a little beach of an inlet to see if the calmer water would be more fun for them. Evidently, they enjoyed it, until Madeleine was overrun and bitten by sand ants. She only got a couple bites, but the episode made a huge impression on her. She still gets a little freaked when she sees an ant.

Prince Noah and Princess Maia, ready for our Royal Banquet.
Madeleine drinks from her bejeweled gobblet of the finest hot pink plastic.
Madeleine and Aunt Maggie.
Our Royal Family.
The beach at sunset.

Peek a boo!
If it wasn't for this enormous string of drool, I'd be the coolest thing on this beach.
Like I said, loved the sand.
The fancy tea party Madeleine and I hosted. Girls only, thank you very much. Madeleine is starting to make the sign of the cross.
A kiss for Grandpa.

Flying kites with Uncle Puck.
Cernekas by the shore.
Grandkids!
In the tub.